Boston Red Sox vs. Kansas City Royals MLB Betting Preview | September 18

Hunter Dozier will try to notch his 100th hit of the season (he has 99) when the Kansas City Royals (58-87) play the Boston Red Sox (70-75) on Sunday at 1:35 PM ET. The Royals are underdogs (+163) versus the Red Sox (-195). Boston’s Nick Pivetta starts against Kansas City’s Kris Bubic.

It’s time to get your parents, spouse, coworkers, third cousin and mailman together again. MLB pools are back! Hit your own home run with RunYourPool today.
Start here >

Game Info, Betting Lines for Red Sox vs. Royals

• Game Day: Sunday, September 18, 2022
• Game Time: 1:35 PM ET
• Location: Boston, Massachusetts
• Stadium: Fenway Park

Red Sox Stats & Trends

Red Sox Batting

• The Red Sox rank 21st in MLB play with 136 total home runs.
• The Red Sox have the fifth-best batting average in the majors (.257).
• The Red Sox are seventh in baseball with a .319 on-base percentage.
• The Red Sox strike out 8.5 times per game, the No. 18 average in the league.
• The Red Sox average 1.1 homers per home game this season (77 total at home).
• The Red Sox are averaging 3.5 extra-base hits per game while slugging .432 at home.
• The team averages 9.1 hits per game and is batting .266 at home this season.

Red Sox Key Batters

• Rafael Devers leads Boston in total hits (144) this season while batting .287 with 65 extra-base hits.
• Devers is 22nd in batting average, 37th in on-base percentage, and 10th in slugging among qualifying hitters in the majors.
• Devers has hit safely in three games in a row. In his last five games he is hitting .211 with a double, two walks and an RBI.
• Xander Bogaerts leads the Red Sox with an OPS of .852. He has a slash line of .315/.382/.470 this season.
• Bogaerts’ batting average is fifth among qualified players, his on-base percentage seventh, and his slugging percentage 29th.
• Alex Verdugo is batting .281 with a .400 slugging percentage and 66 RBI this year.
• Tommy Pham has 16 home runs, 56 RBI and a batting average of .242 this season.

Royals Stats & Trends

Royals Batting

• The Royals rank 28th in Major League Baseball with just 121 home runs as a team.
• The Royals rank 15th in MLB with a .242 team batting average.
• The Royals have an on-base percentage of .305 this season, which ranks 23rd in the league.
• The Royals are one of the most disciplined teams at the plate this season, ranking 10th with an average of eight strikeouts per game.
• They have averaged 0.9 home runs per game in their 71 road contests this season.
• In 71 road games this season, they’re slugging .361 with 176 hits going for extra bases.
• In 71 road games this season, they have a batting average of .230 while averaging 7.8 base hits per contest.

Royals Key Batters

• Bobby Witt Jr. has put up a team-high slugging percentage (.436) while leading the Royals in hits (131).
• Including all qualified hitters, Witt Jr. ranks 84th in batting average, while his on-base percentage ranks 124th and he is 61st in slugging.
• Witt Jr. brings a two-game hitting streak into this game. During his last five outings he is hitting .238 with two doubles and three RBI.
• MJ Melendez paces his team with a .317 on-base percentage.
• Melendez is currently 126th in batting average, 90th in on-base percentage and 100th in slugging percentage among all qualified hitters.
• Salvador Perez is batting .247 with 18 doubles, a triple, 21 home runs and 15 walks.
• Michael A. Taylor is hitting .263 with nine doubles, three triples, nine home runs and 34 walks.

Red Sox vs. Royals Probable Pitchers